Greene Water Advisory board to dissolve

Published: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 02:26 PM.

County Manager Richard Hicks said the seven water entities remain as Greene County water customers since they don’t have their own wells.

“It shouldn’t have a significant impact because all of the other customers don’t have the ability to provide their own water, so Walstonburg and places like that, they’ll still be — and South Greene Water Corporation — they’ll still be customers of Greene County. And our rates will be set where we’ll continue to be able to make the debt service.”

Those water groups are currently paying the regular water rate per thousand gallons of use, as well as the $12 surcharge per customer per month. The surcharge is paying off the construction debt service.

“We’ve talked about just merging the surcharge in with the basic rate,” Hicks said. “Those are decisions that will be made later.”

A discussion of the surcharge by the Greene County commissioners may happen sometime in February after all the water entities sign the resolution, he said.

Hicks said the water advisory board was initially created when all the water entities were brought together to discuss the options for an alternative water source for Greene County. The decision to join with GUC came to fruition through the recommendation of that board to the county board.

“So the main objective of putting that board together has been met,” Hicks said. “We’ve got an alternative water supply. We’re set for years to come.”

SNOW HILL — The Greene County Water Advisory Board, represented by nine water entities, is in the process of being dissolved.

Chairman David Jones said all the water groups present agreed to dissolve the board at its December meeting, likely its last meeting.

The nine water entities that make up the water board include Greene County, South Greene Water Corporation, Arba, Lizzie, Maury, Ormondsville and the towns of Snow Hill, Hookerton and Walstonburg.

Hookerton and Snow Hill — the only entities owning wells except for Greene County — opting out of signing a new alternative water contract with the county is cited as the reason for the dissolving of the water board.

Each of the water groups was mailed a letter with information about the December meeting and a resolution to sign.

Snow Hill, Hookerton and Walstonburg town boards signed the resolution to dissolve the water board at their January meetings. South Greene also turned a signed resolution in to Greene County, Jones said.

“It’s my interpretation, when we get all the resolutions back signed, then the water board will be dissolved,” Jones said.

County Manager Richard Hicks said the seven water entities remain as Greene County water customers since they don’t have their own wells.

“It shouldn’t have a significant impact because all of the other customers don’t have the ability to provide their own water, so Walstonburg and places like that, they’ll still be — and South Greene Water Corporation — they’ll still be customers of Greene County. And our rates will be set where we’ll continue to be able to make the debt service.”

Those water groups are currently paying the regular water rate per thousand gallons of use, as well as the $12 surcharge per customer per month. The surcharge is paying off the construction debt service.

“We’ve talked about just merging the surcharge in with the basic rate,” Hicks said. “Those are decisions that will be made later.”

A discussion of the surcharge by the Greene County commissioners may happen sometime in February after all the water entities sign the resolution, he said.

Hicks said the water advisory board was initially created when all the water entities were brought together to discuss the options for an alternative water source for Greene County. The decision to join with GUC came to fruition through the recommendation of that board to the county board.

“So the main objective of putting that board together has been met,” Hicks said. “We’ve got an alternative water supply. We’re set for years to come.”

In 2012, the town of Hookerton did not renew an inter-local water supply and distribution agreement with Greene County for an alternative source of water from the Greenville Utilities Commission after the previous agreement ended in December 2012.

Snow Hill followed suit.

“Hookerton and Snow Hill decided not to stay on the project and pay the surcharge anymore, so the rest of the board was not going to be a functioning board like it was,” Jones said.

Hookerton Town Clerk April Baker said the town had fulfilled its agreement with the initial contract.

“Our board said we were going by the current contract, which showed there were no more payments after 2012,” she said.

Hookerton and Snow Hill, having city wells, didn’t use the alternative water, except when Hookerton required temporary emergency water.

“The only time that we needed to have water was in an emergency situation, and that wasn’t even using the new lines,” Baker said. “That was still using the old lines that have been in place for years.”

The new alternative water line runs past Hookerton with a shut-off valve connected to Hookerton’s lines from the 1970s and 1980s, she said.

The plan is to work out an arrangement for Snow Hill and Hookerton to receive emergency water as the previous agreement was part of the original contract no longer in place, he said.

Jason and Shine water corporations have one well, in which there have been some problems, but they have not asked to join the inter-local agreement yet. They were told they would have to pay surcharge back-payments in order to join.

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.